>> this is "bbc world news." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives.

we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> time for america's presidential hopefuls to climb into the ring and take one another on. obama versus romney in the first tv debate. can the challenger dense the president's lead in the polls? welcome to gmt. i'm david eades. also coming up in the program, hamas accused of torture, unfair trials and execution of detainees in gaza. we hear from a victim and from

hamas. also, fire up the bloodhounds. is this the answer to setting a new world land speed record? >> it's midday in london and 5:00 a.m. in denver, colorado where two prizefighters are preparing to step into the ring, cameras fixed on their every punch and flinch as they fight for a winner take all seat, the president of the united states. the first tv debate is always a great moment of anticipation as americans get the chance to draw direct comparisons, mitt romney is trailing barack obama in the polls in a number of key states but the president is under attack for failing to deliver jobs for voters. nowhere is that felt more than reno, nevada where the unemployment rate is the highest in the country. >> in the city nevada, reno is

a little less vegas than las vegas it might be little but its voters could have a big impact on the elections. few places in america were worse hit by recession. inform has the highest unemployment rate in the country. barack obama won here comfortably four years ago. this time it will be closer. >> you're going to have a big choice to make, nevada. and it's not just choice between two candidates or two political parties. it's a choice between two different paths for this country. >> this is the other path. mitt romney, the businessman turned politician who is promising to turn the economy around slipped a little in the polls but it's still too close to call. >> these debates are an opportunity for each of us to describe the pathway forward to america we can choose and the people are going to have to

make a choice. >> more money is being spent on this election than ever before. who wins depends on how people vote in a handful of swing states and in a few areas of those states so all the money is being spent on bombarding the undecided with tv ads and phone calls. >> this is from the obama campaign. i'm a volunteer. >> the democrats have a well-oiled campaign machine. >> we are outnumbering republicans with new voter registrations. we have volunteers in here every single day making phone calls and have a paid canvasing team and we will have a large army of volunteers on the ground when it's time to get out the vote. >> hello? >> just down the road republicans are doing exactly the same thing. a swing state, your phone

always ringing. >> we always know down near las vegas that always goes democratic and the other counties all go republican. this county what youshow county, whichever way it goes, it will determine how the state goes. >> so how is it going? the competition is very much on. people are divided. >> the man that can put more people to work that can guarantee a better economy in the future i think is going to be the man who can pull through? >> have you decided? >> yes. >> as far as i'm concerned, romney is for the rich and we're just the middle class that's talked about a lot. >> i just hope whoever win sincere going to do a good job for all the people not just some of the people. >> which way the undecided voters go depends on what happens in four short weeks. >> we're going to have a look

at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. a series of car bombs exploded in aleppo killing and wounding at least 31 people. the blast occurred in the main square near a military officer's club. it's been one of the focal points of violence in the recent time. and according to a leaked report commissioned by the european union says nearly all the 143 nuclear plants in the e.u. need improvement and require around $25 billion euros to do it. and they want to see how their nuclear stations would cope during extreme emergencies. >> authorities near arizona expect drug smugglers ambushed agents responding to a trip.

and hamas has been accused of abuse in its criminal justice system. they say criminals are regularly subject to beatings and the electric chair. hamas have denied this widespread abuse as it's being described by human rights. more from the bbc's john in gaza city. it's a pretty long list of atrocities and failings, isn't it? >> some pretty strong language, david from human rights watch saying the criminal justice system in gaza wreaks of injustice. widespread systematic torture even saying three prisoners

were executed on the basis of confessions extracted through torture. i've been speaking to one young man who is a supporter of hamas' rivals, fatah, and he has been arrested many times in recent years and we have obviously concealed his identity but i've been asking him what happened to him while he was being detained. >> conditions of detention were more than bad. i was subjected to torture, beatings and humiliation. i was not allowed to bathe for a few days. they put a stinky bag over my head and the beatings and humiliation continued for several days. once they stripped my leg and burned my foot with a cigarette lighter. >> john, this isn't the first time these allegations or those

allegations the victim made have been made. what's being made of all this? >> well, hamas has been more open to criticism than they have been in the past. human rights held a media conference with hamas officials challenging and did in a way highjack that by having their own press conference immediately afterwards but essentially hamas is denying widespread abuse, saying there were a few isolated cases. i've been speaking to hamas' deputy foreign minister. >> i think the situation now has become more bitter than the past. i can confirm that there is no kind of torture inside gaza, because our rules and the leadership inside the prisons and jails and everywhere and i

have a good connection with all the human rights organizations here in gaza. >> well, there's clearly quite a disparity from what we are hearing from hamas and human rights. they have talked about 48 counts in 2011 alone. anyone carrying the can for this? is anyone being made accountable? >> well, human rights watch says, no. hamas unsurprisingly says yes. they pointed out at this the press conference tens if not hundreds of hamas police officers have been disciplined for abuse. so you do have conflicting accounts of what's going on. but hamas perhaps being a little more open than they have been in the past. >> john, thanks very much indeed. john with the latest on that story from gaza. ok. eighteen age boys in india who alleged they were sexually abused by a british head master

are now suing those who ran the school and employed them including two influential labor politicians and a charity. it follows the investigation into the crimes against young boys and the lawyer for the boys said these people failed in their duty of care every time the boys were abused. emily buchanan has more. >> derek slade was first accused of using excessive violence on children 30 years ago. then he was head master of a boarding school in eastern england. former pupils speak of terror although the sexual abuse on boys as young as 8 only came to light when slade was imprisoned for years. in the meantime he was convicted of savagely beating

boys at another place and his career was said to be finished. but that didn't stop him. >> when he couldn't teach anymore in the u.k. he came here far from the prying eyes of the british authorities and there were plenty of vulnerable boys for him to prey on. the earthquake provided an opportunity. charities sprang up in the u.k. to help the thousands of victims. derek slade managed to get employed by one of them to run this school, but the children in this remote area weren't even victims of disaster but just of poor families who desperately wanted a free education. >> the bbc found former pupils who described what their former head master did to him. >> he hit me with a stick and other times with his hands. he used to beat us every sunday then take photos and then offer

chocolate. he would rub you afterwards and say nothing had happened. >> eight of the indian boys are now suing slade's former friend and one-time business partner, derek sawyer, a previous leader in london and lord mayor of lessor whose charity funded the employment of slade. the boys' lawyer announced the case against them at the press conference alleging they failed to protect people from slade's sexual abuse. >> you owe an obligation to those in the school to look after them and safe and free from harm. and if something unimportant to happens, such as being abused by a teacher, then those who are responsible in english law are then accountable. >> derek slade is now in prison. those being sued have distanced themselves from them saying they were shocked to discover

he was a danger to children. emily buchanan, bbc news. >> still to come on gmt, vatican police take the stand in the trial against the former butler accused of stealing confidential information. >> and an official ban on homosexual activity. if passed the law would prevent them from gathering publicly. a similar law was passed the st. petersburg. >> the parliament was small but vocal. gay rights campaigners gathered to protest about a bill that would make their demonstrations illegal. it would make promoting homosexuality a criminal offense with those found guilty

facing jail. >> we will not be able to come out with posters like today with our symbols to say publicly you are a homosexual in an interview would be considered propaganda. >> the bill has been heavily criticized by human rights groups but the counterprotesters were there. >> when gay people come out in the street to promote this way of life, it promotes a violation of my are the and children's rights and people this worries us and we demand a ban and punishment. >> the zoigs pass the bill was passed by more than half of the members of parliament. it doesn't clearly define what the promotion of homosexuality is but it states it poses a threat to national security and family rights.

in russia gay couples have been arrested but the bill has to pass and be approved by the president before it becomes law. julie peacock, "bbc news." >> we'd like to know what you thoif what we're bringing you here on gmt. the elections for example in the states, tell us what you think. this is gmt from "bbc world news." i'm david eades. the headlines. america's presidential candidates prepare to take to the stage in denver in their first televised debate. 50 million viewers are expected to tune in. hamas government denies declarations of torture and arbitrary arrests in gaza. that's time where we bring you the business news now. aaron is here for that. some interesting figures worrying as we are used to

hearing tesco going from strength-to-strength. >> we are talking about the largest chain in the u.k. out of every eight pounds one goes through a tesco till. that is because company today reported its first fall or drop in profits in nearly 20 years. the first half of this year $2.7 billion was made but down 11.5% from last year. why? we know tesco spent $1.5 billion in revamping. that's costly. but they are saying smaller supermarket chains are starting to eat into their market share and the big operations, big problems and tesco can no longer rely on overseas businesses to offset any

shortages here. have a listen. >> what troubled me a little bit about these numbers was on how many fronts tesco is struggling, even overseas. some of the same problems in the u.k. seem to be appearing in central europe and asia. but tesco aren't doing quite as well. again, it has to do with a lot of exposure to large stores which across the market many consumers don't like the fact potentially the price image is good and don't like temptation of going into those big stores where in hard times they are tempted to buy things they don't need. >> no change now, but it's a real problem when the people who are there to try to provide the financial wherewithal, they can't agree on what to do. >> the international lenders made up of the i.m.f. the

european union and central bank all in athens with the greek government try resolve a disagreement about the spending cuts. they need to approve another round of austerity but the problem is both sides can't seem to agree on the final $2 billion euros. athens wants spending cuts in defense and local authorities where as the international lenders are saying we want to see further cuts in salaries and jobs. that's a problem with athens because the finance minister is saying hang on. have you seen the pictures here? any further cuts in salaries and jobs could to the government. that would have serious preliminary cases and this could delay this next chunk of bailout money. we've got a dispute going on between the lenders. the i.m.f. wants to be strict

and let's just have a listen about that situation from our correspondent on the ground in athens. >> disagreement within the tricyclea doesn't bode well for an agreement within the government. we're hearing the i.m.f. has taken a harder line than european commission and central bank so the greek crisis is still intractable. no one knows quite how the solve it. greece will enter its sixth conservative -- sixth consecutive year and public debt is set to sore to 179% of g.d.p. >> and of course that would be by far the highest in the euro zone. so this report card which these lenders are putting together -- depends on this dispute, will have it in a week's time and that will decide which path greece takes next. >> a deep breath. >> yes. >> four vatican police officers

are due to give evidence in the trial of pope ben decisions -- pope ben dick's former butler who is charged with stealing some of the late pope's belongings. in what is in any case an extraordinary story, alan, what can we expect from the perspective the police are bringing? >> well, david, i can tell you that those four police officers have now given their testimony to the court, and they gave a huge amount of detail about an eight-hour search they conducted of paulo, the pope's butler's apartment home in the vatican city and said they came across a great mountain of paperwork. tens of thousands of computer printoffs and other material, enough to fill more than 80 boxes. and this was a great range of subjects from an interest he

had with secret societies including the ma sonic society. interesting secret service agencies and in the pope's life and former prime minister in yoga, budism and on and on. but the police officers got it down to durements they thought were relevant. mostly photo copied documents from the pope's studies but original letters from cardinals to the pope and back. and so on. and the police also talked about finding 100,000 euro-check made out to the pope in the butler's apartment and the butler said he had no idea it was there and must have scooped it up in the pile he scooped up and also talked

about finding a gold nugget and centuries old book and the butler said he is allowed to take books home from work. >> it seems there's far more interest in the documentation that was there. frankly, than whether he seems to be guilty or innocent. >> well, there is, though, a very serious charge against him, it is that of aggravated theft. remember, he could face up to four years in jail. we expect now a verdict to be delivered on saturday. >> alan, thanks very much indeed. alan johnson in rome. >> now the latest attempt to break world land speed record in a car that could travel up to 1,600 kilometers per hour. behind the vehicle known as the bloodhound will be firing up the engine for the first time today. the bbc's alan has been there.

>> on a hill top shrouded by a relic of the cold war, a town which heralds a milestone moment. from the outset a bloodhound team set out the create this. after years of design work, this is the power source which could take the bloodhound car through the sound barrier and on to 1,000 miles an hour. >> there are two engines on test today, one will be more on a grand prix test this will need all of its formula one performance just to help pump fuel. that fuel is called hydrogen peroxide pressurized in this tank and then forced down into what is called a rocket fuel then a thrust that will burn at temperatures up to 200,000 degrees centigrade.

>> rocket systems fired. >> when combined with a jet from an raf typhoon, the three engines will produce 135,000 horsepower. that's more than six times the power of all the formula one cars on a starting grid. >> it's an extraordinary technical engineering challenge, and making that work is going to be a huge amount of pressure from five years ago when we started with a blank sheet of paper to designing this 1,000-mile-an-hour car in south africa. >> three, two, one. >> this is a project which aims to draw us all in. to inspire engineers of the future whether they be from the u.k. or from the communities that surround the chosen frank across this near the libyan border. as they carry out their dry runs, bloodhounds engineers

know they will have a worldwide audience. >> this is the first time we've brought all the elements of the rocket system together. we've tested everything separately but will be bringing the full system together for a complete test. >> it should go super sonic next year and cross the barrier in 204. the countdown is well under way. >> that's robert hall anticipating a possible world land speed record. certainly not a record in terms of speed. we'll bring you pictures on what motorists in california had to deal with. this is a relatively rare weather phenomenon which they call the dust delve. this is on the 215 freeway in paris. it's just a small rapidly rotating wind but not quite what you look forward to as you're driving the other way down the freeway. ok. just time to remind you of what is

barack obama and mitt romney are in denver as they prepare for the first of three presidential debates. the challenger is looking to cut into the president's albeit narrow, lead. that's it for gmt. stay with us on "bbc world news." plenty more. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding for this presentation was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard

to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles